Caches are commonly used to temporarily store values that might be repeatedly accessed by a processor of a computing system. A cache is a high-speed memory device used to reduce the latency associated with repeatedly reading data from a main memory device of the computing system. Thus, the same addressed data may be available from two memory devices of the computing system, i.e., the system's cache and the system's main memory.
A problem arises if the data stored in a memory device such as a cache contains an incorrect value, for example, due to a soft error caused by stray radiation or electrostatic discharge. Thus, it would be desirable to automatically recover the correct value if possible. The present invention provides an autonomous error recovery technique which addresses this problem.